Unexpected Gains!

A few minutes later, Danzo left the Hokage Office, looking somewhat displeased.

It seemed his proposal had not been approved.

"Black One, go find Uchiha Fugaku."

"I will wait for him here."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

An Anbu member vanished from the room.

Soon, Uchiha Fugaku arrived.

"Lord Hokage."

Uchiha Fugaku gave a slight nod.

"Fugaku, I will skip the pleasantries."

"I hope you can personally intervene regarding the matter of Asuma."

"He is absolutely not a spy from another village."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said slowly.

"I know."

"Asuma is your child; he would certainly not be a spy planted or bribed by outsiders."

"I will issue the orders."

Uchiha Fugaku did not refute him and agreed directly.

"Lord Hokage, the captain of the Military Police Force, Uchiha Natsume, is here."

"He says he has an urgent matter to discuss directly with Lord Hokage."

At this moment, someone from the Communication Department knocked on the door of the Hokage Office.

"Let him in."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had a bad premonition.

One had to know that usually, if the Military Police Force had any issues, they would report directly to Uchiha Fugaku.

Then Uchiha Fugaku would report to him.

At this critical juncture, why would there be a case of bypassing the chain of command?

"Lord Hokage, Captain."

"Please forgive Natsume's impulsiveness; I should have reported to the Captain first."

Uchiha Natsume said with a panicked expression.

"Natsume, speak."

"As it happens, I am here as well."

Fugaku narrowed his eyes, looking at Uchiha Natsume with some curiosity.

Although he knew a little about this matter, he did not know much.

Most importantly, he had not yet issued any instructions for the subsequent handling of the situation.

For Natsume to come here so suddenly, there must be something special.

"Sarutobi Asuma has defected."

"To be precise, he has been bewitched."

As Uchiha Natsume spoke, he took out a file.

Upon hearing these two sentences, the pipe in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand nearly dropped.

Fugaku took the file directly.

"Lord Hokage, this is quite inappropriate..."

Fugaku said, handing the file in his hand to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

After Sarutobi Hiruzen finished reading the information, his expression became increasingly grim.

"Lord Hokage, we should handle this matter internally."

"If it goes public, it will affect the village and your prestige, Lord Hokage."

"Furthermore, more trouble will follow."

Before Sarutobi Hiruzen could speak, Uchiha Fugaku said this directly.

He was joking; even the Hokage's son had been bewitched.

If that were the case, the infiltration of Konoha by other villages would surely become even more rampant.

This was not Fugaku wanting to help Sarutobi Hiruzen, but rather a consideration for the safety of the entire village.

If something happened to the village, the Uchiha would inevitably have to go to the battlefield again.

That would be no small loss for the Uchiha.

"I understand."

"I will handle this matter personally; hand the person over to me."

"The Military Police Force performed very well this time, so their monthly reserve funding will be doubled."

"The benefits for every member of the Military Police Force will also be doubled."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said softly.

"Understood, Lord Hokage."

"Natsume, go bring him here."

"Lord Hokage, I shall take my leave now."

After Uchiha Fugaku finished speaking, he took Uchiha Natsume and left the room directly.

During a mission, Asuma encountered ninjas from another village.

The Hidden Swamp Village was a village composed of wandering ninjas from various places and rogue ninjas from other villages.

It was small in scale and constantly on the move.

Upon learning of Asuma's identity, they began to proactively curry favor with him.

How could the hot-blooded and arrogant Asuma withstand such flattery?

Soon, he was floating on air from all the praise.

Consequently, he began having long-term contact with them.

Even every time he went out on a mission, he would seek them out.

He treated intelligence regarding Konoha as mere conversation fodder, revealing it to them without reservation.

Some time ago, several of Konoha's assets—the mines, the Vermilion Flame Tree, and the fertile fields—were attacked by the ninjas of the Hidden Swamp Village.

The intelligence, naturally, had been obtained from Asuma's own mouth.

That's right; this guy was being sold out, yet he continued to happily provide them with information.

Soon, Asuma appeared in the Hokage Office.

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's face, which was dark enough to drip water, he felt a surge of panic in his heart.

Although he was arrogant and domineering outside, he was still very afraid of his father.

"Do you realize the gravity of this situation?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked with a calm expression.

"I..."

"Confinement. You are not allowed to leave until the Spring Festival memorial."

"Go back!"

Before Asuma could finish speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already made his decision.

Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had closed his eyes, Asuma ultimately did not say another word and turned to leave.

If this had been anyone else, they would already be sitting in a Konoha prison cell by now.

Furthermore, they would likely have been executed on the spot.

If it weren't for Uchiha Fugaku worrying about the impact on the village, Asuma would already be dead.

Uchiha Compound.

"Roy, was this your plan?"

Looking at Roy and the other three in front of him, Uchiha Fugaku asked with some surprise.

"It wasn't my plan."

"It's just that this guy Asuma came looking for trouble, so I did a quick investigation into him."

"I didn't expect to uncover something like this."

Roy responded indifferently.

To be honest, when Roy first learned of this, he was also quite surprised.

He hadn't expected that the younger Asuma would be so reckless.

He had even casually thrown away his own father's assets.

"You did very well, Roy."

"Regarding that matter last time, the clan didn't react, but you understand why, right?"

Uchiha Fugaku looked at Roy with some concern.

After all, that was a very serious matter for Roy.

"I understand."

"The current state of the clan is not enough for me to go and seek justice."

"Besides, I have no intention of troubling the clan with this matter."

Roy said with a look of confidence on his face.

"Very well, I understand."

"Here is one hundred thousand ryo as a reward for you."

"You may all leave now."

Uchiha Fugaku looked satisfied, and after handing over the reward, he dismissed the four of them.

"Natsume, this team member of yours has some real potential."

"Make good use of him, but also ensure his safety."

"Do not let him participate in tonight's mission."

Seeing the four leave, Uchiha Fugaku turned and said to Uchiha Natsume.

"Understood, Clan Head."

"I will go handle a few things first; we must provide the village with an explanation for this incident."

"As for those two lackeys of Asuma, they can consider themselves unlucky."

After Uchiha Natsume finished speaking, a ruthless expression appeared on his face.